#showmeyourshelve(r)s beware! Michael Gove recently fell foul of those seeking reason to find fault with the reading material on display behind him in a recent video call. Though we may not intend to do so, let’s face it, bookworms make a beeline for any bookshelves and make judgement draw conclusions therefrom. In these days of zoom, there’s no need even to leave your own space in order to peruse the bookshelves of others. The question is are you ready for the inevitable judgement? Or are you guilty of the double standard below?

(Full disclosure: Only I am allowed to cross the threshold into my library – it is a health and safety hazard for those not acquainted with the layout. I will judge you if your bookshelves are too tidy.)

Grant Snider’s comics cover a range of topics, but when covering the foibles of bookwormishness, he is a knowing cartoonist. Everyone will recognise themselves somewhere. For instance, where are you on the following lifepath?

(Full disclosure: I’m at stage 8 having completely bypassed stages 5, 6 and 7).

Those who have not bypassed stage 5, i.e those with the need to become a writer, will also find themselves staring into a mirror, because many of Snider’s cartoons inspect the travails of producing perfect prose.

(Full disclosure: One r – reading – suffices for me. I certainly don’t go through the nine r’s when creating a blog post.)

Snider’s book is a delight (though perhaps a little repetitive if read in one gulp of bookwormish glee). (Full disclosure: that would be me.)

But one thing that I cannot criticise is the wit, respect and often sound advice that is contained in Snider’s work. As an example of the latter, I’m including a recent cartoon – so recent that it’s not in the book which was published in April 2020. But it’s the best/greatest/most wonderful advice for the extraordinary times we are in.

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